Vance defends immigration cuts, addresses questions about wife’s heritage

OXFORD, Miss. — Vice President JD Vance defended his administration’s push to reduce immigration levels while fielding pointed questions about his own family’s immigrant heritage during a Turning Point USA event at the University of Mississippi on Wednesday night.

In a lengthy exchange with a student who identified as an immigrant, the Cincinnati Republican argued that the country needs to dramatically lower the number of people entering legally and illegally to allow society to “cohere” and build “common identity.”

“Right now we have let in too many immigrants into the United States of America. That is just a fundamental reality,” Vance told a crowd estimated at 10,000 students.

The student challenged Vance on multiple fronts, questioning how he reconciles his stance given that his wife Usha is the daughter of immigrants who arrived in the United States from India in the late 1970s. The student also asked why Christianity appears to be positioned as a requirement for belonging in America.

“Why did you sell us a dream? You made us spend our youth, our wealth in this country, and gave us a dream,” the student said. “Then how can you as a vice president stand there and say that we have too many of them now?”

Vance responded that he can support lower future immigration levels while still honoring commitments made to people who entered through legal pathways. “Just because one person or 10 people or 100 people came in legally and contributed to the United States of America, does that mean that we’re thereby committed to let in a million or 10 million or 100 million people a year in the future? No,” he said.

The vice president cited the Immigration Act of 1924, which he said “effectively cut [immigration] to close to zero for 40 years” and allowed existing immigrants to assimilate. He argued that high immigration levels destroy “the very social trust on which American freedom and prosperity was built.”

Personal revelation about faith

In addressing the student’s question about his interfaith household, Vance made a candid admission about hoping his Hindu-raised wife will eventually convert to Christianity.

“Do I hope eventually that she is somehow moved by the same thing that I was moved in by church? Yeah, I honestly, I do wish that, because I believe in the Christian gospel, and I hope eventually my wife comes to see it the same way,” Vance said.

He described how both he and Usha were agnostics or atheists when they met and said they decided together to raise their three children as Christians. Their two oldest attend Christian school, and their eight-year-old had his first communion about a year ago.

“But if she doesn’t, then God says everybody has free will, and so that doesn’t cause a problem for me,” Vance added. He noted that Usha often attends church with him on Sundays and has grown close to their priest.

Other policy discussions

During the lengthy question-and-answer session, Vance fielded inquiries on topics ranging from gun enforcement to abortion policy to corporate data collection.

When asked about the Department of Justice’s enforcement of existing gun laws, Vance defended operations like Memphis’s Safe Task Force to address crime, which he said had arrested 1,700 people and seized 300 illegal guns. He framed it as a matter of due process, saying people who have committed felonies and been legally ordered not to possess firearms should have those weapons confiscated.

On abortion, Vance rejected a student’s suggestion that he had “wavered” on the issue since joining the presidential ticket. “I really do believe that the president has been the most pro-life president in the history of the United States of America,” he said, while acknowledging the need to work “within the political constraints that we have.”

Regarding corporate surveillance, Vance told a student asking about Palantir’s data collection that he opposes any company harvesting citizens’ data. “You cannot be a sovereign citizen if any private corporation or any government can steal something from you that belongs to you,” he said.

Charlie Kirk’s legacy

The event was held in memory of Charlie Kirk, the 31-year-old Turning Point USA founder who was shot and killed at Utah Valley University last month. Kirk’s widow, Erika, introduced Vance at the event, saying her late husband had envisioned chapter events filling large college football stadiums.

Vance has positioned himself as a torchbearer for Kirk’s movement since the assassination. Days after Kirk’s death, Vance hosted Kirk’s radio show, where he and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller pledged to “dismantle these terrorist networks” they blamed for creating an environment conducive to political violence.

Tyler James Robinson, 22, has been arrested on suspicion of aggravated murder in Kirk’s killing.

At Wednesday’s event, Vance repeatedly invoked Kirk’s memory, recalling how Kirk would call him to discuss policy concerns and urging students to honor Kirk’s legacy by getting involved in saving the country.

“Despair is a sin,” Vance told the crowd, repeating what he said was advice from a friend during his return to Christianity. “Do not give in to despair. Let’s keep fighting to save the United States of America.”